We've been producing compacted round aluminum conductor for overhead power cable (~33kV) for quite a while now but recently we've been encountering individual wire breaks that seems to happen randomly. I understand that they are many factors that can lead to this problem so I visited the WAI store in search for a book(s) that might send me the right way. However, there are so many I don't know which to choose.

Please kindly recommend me a book that covers the fundamentals of compacting aluminum conductor. I really need to troubleshoot and not sure where to begin.

PS. I am inclined to blame this on unsuitable material or improper wire annealing. It's just that there's more aluminum dust and shavings than usual. I'm still waiting for the wire tension test report. Would wire elongation play a great role in compacting a conductor?

I suggest you get that book delivered by courier just as soon as possible. I have received wire and cable sample packages from India in one day with Fedex so I suggest that this is your best carrier.

The most important thing in your troubleshooting process is to determine what has changed since the last time you had a very successful and reliable process.

Certainly the change of the degree of annealing (As Indicated by elongation testing.) would change your compaction process and could indeed result in more strand wire breaks. The number of random wire breaks caused by this change is of course very difficult to quantify because there are so many variables. That is why each wire and cable company experimentally develops its own processes in this regard.

In the process of manufacturing the conductors you're mentioning, there's normally no need for annealing, as long as you follow a correct reduction scheme (die sequence) and a correct raw material (that is, the right aluminum rod, H12, H14 or whatsoever).

Die pass is pretty much a standard in aluminum drawing. However, the drawing rod should be chosen according to the final diameter and the final properties you want to obtain.

Regarding the breaks, the best way to know what's causing them is metallurgical observation of it, and if you happen to have a SEM equipped with EDS nearby, that would be the best.
Let me know if I can be of further help.
Regards,
Martin.